Phoenix-area school principal arrested on suspicion of child sex crimes

By KTAR.com | September 5, 2017 at 3:30 pmUPDATED: September 6, 2017 at 11:30 am

Karl Waggoner (Pinal County Sheriff's Office Photo)

PHOENIX — The principal of a Phoenix-area school was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of trying to lure underage girls online for sex, officials said.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said Four Peaks Elementary School Principal Karl Waggoner had allegedly posted ads online looking for 14-year-old girls to come skinny dipping at his home.

“Even up until this weekend, Mr. Waggoner was posting ads online soliciting young girls for sex,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a press release.

A detective posing as an underage girl responded to one of the ads. Waggoner allegedly engaged in sexually inappropriate conversations and sent explicit photos.

The sheriff’s office said Waggoner admitted to detectives that he was involved in the case. He was charged with luring and aggravated luring of a minor.

The Apache Junction and Gold Canyon News said Waggoner was hired to be the principal of the school near Idaho Road and Lost Dutchman Boulevard in July. He had been on the job for about three weeks.

Waggoner came to the school from Texas, where he taught for decades.

“Waggoner held a position of trust, spending decades educating middle and high school students in Texas,” Lamb said. “We are working with those law enforcement agencies to see if there are any victims out there.”